


Catalogue

by klari19



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (they never met when they were in high school), Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Library, Bokuto is in Engineering because he likes to make things explode, Bokuto sets Akaashi up with the cute librarian, Books, Crushes, Embarrassment, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Haikyuu!! Rare Pair Exchange, M/M, Mild Language, This asks for future chapters but I have to think about that yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 19:58:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6208090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klari19/pseuds/klari19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As always, Akaashi read, took notes, and every once in a while he stretched on his chair and stole a glance towards the reception desk.</p><p>But that last thing was not really part of his routine, or at least he didn’t want to admit that it was. He didn’t want to admit that <em>maybe</em> he had a crush on the gray-haired student librarian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catalogue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wasabipeas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasabipeas/gifts).



> Hello [Sabrina](http://wasabipeaas.tumblr.com/)! I am your HQ!! Rare Pair Exchange giftee ^^  
> Ahhh.... I changed my idea for this about 4 times omg. Everytime, I would write around 1k words but then I'd realize I wasn't satisfied with the thing, and started all over again. And it wasn't until _yesterday_ that I finally got an idea that I knew I was going to be satisfied with :'D  
>  This is based on your second prompt, "Getting together" and I chose AkaSuga from your list of pairings. I hope you enjoy this little thing!  
> Thanks so much to my wonderful beta, [Onsla❤](https://onlyslash.tumblr.com/), for agreeing to quickly go over this for me at the last minute. And, as always, we suck at finding titles lmfao  
> Happy rare pairing!!

“Bokuto-san, if you want to follow me into the library you have to be quiet.”

“Whaaaaat?!”

Akaashi sighed and shook his head lightly as he pushed the door open, “At least… lower your voice. Please…”

 _I don’t want to have my access denied because of you._ He thought before finally stepping in.

“Okay!” Bokuto replied in his usual lively tone.

Akaashi whipped his head back towards him, giving him a reprimanding look, and Bokuto stepped back a little before giving him a thumbs up and a giant grin.

Together, they made their way into the vast first floor of the college library – which, thankfully, wasn’t too crowded given the relatively early hour of the day – and approached the tables situated right beside the large windows. Akaashi was glad that there was free space for them to sit down comfortably and study – or, at least, _try_ to, with Bokuto beside him – since that spot was the one with the best light in the entire building.

Gently setting his bag down onto the wooden table, Akaashi pulled out the chair and sat down on it, while Bokuto flopped down on his own seat with a loud sigh of contentment.

“ _Bokuto-san!_ ” Akaashi whisper-shouted, leaning over the table and toward his friend.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry!” Bokuto breathed in reply, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth, eyebrows drawn down to the sides in apology.

Akaashi shook his head once more, and inhaled deeply to (try to) calm down his already slightly agitated nerves.

Taking out his gigantic Biology volume from his bag, Akaashi looked at Bokuto, who was gazing at his Thermodynamics book with a sad expression on his face. Akaashi suppressed a smile when he saw the older one pout like a child as he opened the book to search for the pages he had to read.

As always, Akaashi read, took notes, and every once in a while he stretched on his chair and stole a glance towards the reception desk.

But that last thing was not really part of his routine, or at least he didn’t want to admit that it was. He didn’t want to admit that _maybe_ he had a crush on the gray-haired student librarian. And that’s why every time his eyes drifted again towards the reception desk, he mentally scolded himself and went back to his readings with renewed diligence.

Sometimes, Bokuto sighed and muttered under his breath about various topics ranging from _“Who the hell wrote this book? Power production doesn’t even work like th – Oh. I was reading it wrong.”_ to _“I wonder if Kuroo would be down to get a matching ‘Ohoho’ tattoo with me.”_ , but Akaashi usually managed to remain focused on his work.

That was, until Bokuto sighed particularly loudly.

Akaashi was about to give him the Reprimanding Look as well as the whisper-shouted “ _Bokuto-san!_ ” he had earned himself once again, but the other male spoke before he could even blink.

“Come on… Akaashi. You’ve been eyeing that pretty librarian for a long while now. When are you going to go and ask him out on a date?”

Akaashi’s jaw got stuck mid-way, and the words he’d thought about using died in his throat. He felt heat rise up his neck and gulped down, looking down at his book once more.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bokuto-san.” He muttered, nose buried between the pages of his thick volume.

Bokuto threw his head back and roared with laughter, and Akaashi almost leaped from his chair and over the table to shut him up.

 _“Bokuto-san! Please stop!”_ Akaashi hissed.

Panicked, he looked back towards the reception desk and realized they’d gotten themselves the librarian’s attention – was that good or bad for himself? Akaashi wouldn’t exactly know, but he was ready to bet on the latter.

Akaashi could feel the sweat forming on his brow, but fortunately Bokuto realized that he was being too loud and clapped his hand over his mouth, eyes as wide as plates. Akaashi thanked all the gods he happened to know about.

Bokuto mouthed ‘ _Sorry_ ’ while waving a hand in the general direction of the reception desk. Akaashi didn’t dare looking back.

“Anyway,” Bokuto murmured, now leaning over the table so that he could speak lower and Akaashi would still hear him, “I can help you out, if you want.”

Akaashi looked up from his book, a horrified expression on his face. “What.”, he croaked.

The other leaned away instantly. “Wow,” Bokuto breathed out, looking a little terrified, “Akaashi, you got to work on your expression. You’re never going to get him with that terrible look on your face.”

“Bokuto-san.” Akaashi whined and hid his face in his hands.

He could almost feel himself start to melt, and he thought that would be better than hearing all this nonsense from his friend.

“Alright, I’ll help you out. But you have to promise to work on your – that,” Bokuto murmured while making a vague hand gesture towards Akaashi’s face, “while I work to set you guys up.” He finished and stood up without even waiting for Akaashi to reply, promptly walking away towards the reception desk.

“Bokut – _Wait!_ ” Akaashi stage-whispered, but it was already too late.

* * *

Sugawara frowned a little when he saw the sturdy-looking, gray-and-black haired man approach the desk. He seemed to be a little too loud for his own good, and, as much as it pained him to even think about having to do that, Sugawara was ready to escort him to the door if he was to make any more noise. Especially now that he was walking directly towards him.

The young student librarian straightened himself, puffing his chest out a little to show that he held as much authority and power as any other employee there, and waited.

He couldn’t hide his surprise when the man pressed an elbow to the wooden desk and leaned over to whisper him a _“Hey hey hey!”_ as he motioned him to come closer with his hand.

Even though he was a little startled, Sugawara approached him.

“So,” The man began in a hushed tone, looking down at Sugawara’s chest and reading his name tag, “Sugawara, right?”

Sugawara nodded, “That’s me.”

“I’m Bokuto Koutarou, pleased to meet you.” The man said, and held out his hand. Sugawara shook it. “But I’m not here for myself. I’m here because my friend, Akaashi Keiji, over there…” He looked back and pointed at a black-haired student who seemed to be trying to… sleep? maybe? underneath a thick volume, “…has to do some research for his Biology class, but he’s having a little bit of trouble finding the right books. And he kind of needs your help. So, since he’s a little shy and he didn’t want to bother you, I told him I would call you over on his behalf .”

Sugawara looked at him, quirking an eyebrow in confusion, “Well, there’s the online catalogue –”

Bokuto shook his head, frowning and pursing his lips, and sighed through the nose, “He needs to look into the really old stuff. Those books that haven’t been catalogued online yet.”

“Oh.”

 _Those ones are difficult to search through, indeed._ Sugawara thought to himself, understanding.

“So? Will you help him?” Bokuto whispered.

“Mm-hm.” Sugawara hummed in reply, bobbing his head once.

Bokuto grinned, “Thanks a lot.” He turned away and started walking back towards his… sleeping…? friend.

Sugawara called over another student librarian and told him to take care of the reception desk for the time that he would be away.

He retrieved a very old and very thick notebook entitled “Catalogue” from underneath the main desk, and made his way towards the first occupied table beside the large window.

* * *

Akaashi only noticed that Bokuto was back because of the soft noises. He looked up from underneath the heavy volume and saw Bokuto packing away his own documents, a wide grin parting his lips.

“Bokuto-san, what have you done?” Akaashi murmured weakly.

“My _job_ is what I’ve done.” The other replied, managing to keep his tone low, but failing at disguising his excitement.

Akaashi made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded awfully close to a sob.

He heard soft footsteps approaching him, and his entire body froze. He tried to bury himself deeper underneath his book.

“Um,” A soft, gentle voice rose up behind Akaashi, “Is he… sleeping? I can come ba –”

“No!” Bokuto whispered hurriedly, “He’s not sleeping! Right, Akaashi?”

He grabbed Akaashi’s Biology book and tried to pry it away from Akaashi’s strong grip. But Akaashi resisted, and they fought silently for a moment, until Akaashi thought Bokuto had given up and relaxed his hands a little, only to have the book instantly stolen away from him.

“I… see…” The man behind Akaashi murmured hesitatingly.

In that moment, Akaashi wished the table would grow itself a mouth and eat him whole.

Bokuto put the heavy book down onto the table, carefully placing it out of reach from Akaashi’s desperate hands, and shrugged on his backpack.

Bokuto walked around the table as Sugawara took the man’s previous place in front of Akaashi, and proclaimed, “Well, I’ll be meeting up with Kuroo now!” Then he squeezed Akaashi’s shoulder and murmured (not so subtly) into his ear, “Good luck, my friend.”

Akaashi, whose face was now hidden underneath his arms, felt his stomach drop to his feet and he whispered a strangled, “Goodbye, Bokuto-san. I hope you have fun with Kuroo-san.”

“Bye bye, Akaashi!” Bokuto spoke softly, already walking away, then he added, “Thanks again, Sugawara-san!”

 _So that’s his name…_ Akaashi thought, vaguely registering that it was a very beautiful name.

“N – no problem.” The librarian stuttered out in reply, probably confused by the whole situation.

An awkward silence fell over the two remaining men, and Akaashi mentally cursed Bokuto and himself and the entire world for putting him in this ordeal. But, somewhere _very deep_ inside of him, he was grateful for what Bokuto had done… Although he would never admit it to his friend.

Akaashi realized that he was still hiding himself, and decided that it obviously looked weird and suspicious, so he straightened himself up and looked at the window to his side. He could feel the hotness on his cheeks, and for a second he wondered which one was worse: to look like a dried tomato, or to look like a scared mole.

He felt terribly awkward, and he was sure that Sugawara felt like that as well, and Akaashi wanted to punch himself in the mouth for it. He needed to ease down the tension –

He cleared his throat, “Um.”

Silence.

 _Fucking hell._ He thought to himself.

“Akaashi… Akaashi, right?” Sugawara spoke up gently a second later. Akaashi whipped his head towards him, almost spraining his neck, and nodded vigorously. Sugawara smiled at him, and, to Akaashi, the sight of it felt softer than morning light coming in through the window. He gulped down and tried to catch his breath back as the librarian began once more, “Your friend told me you need help with a research and that you, uh… have a hard time with social interaction, so I don’t want to make you uncomfort –”

Akaashi shook is head furiously, and whispered hurriedly, “No!” He fell silent, a little breathless, and then he realized he didn’t know what Bokuto had told Sugawara. He started panicking a little, but tried to give him an answer based on what he’d heard him say, “I mean – I really need your help.”

He looked down at his hands, screaming internally. _How am I going to keep up with this?! I can’t lie! I never lie! I don’t know how to do this!_

“It’s okay, I’m here just for that.” Sugawara whispered, and Akaashi’s heart skipped a beat.

“T – thanks…” Akaashi murmured.

“Alright then, I brought the old catalogue to help you look for those Biology books.”

 _Old catalogue? Biology books? What on Earth did Bokuto-san tell him?!_ Akaashi felt a little bit like crying as he realized how lost he was.

“Ah… Yes, um…” He began, unsure of what to say next.

Sugawara probably took Akaashi’s hesitation as his cue to keep up with his explanation, and Akaashi mentally thanked him for being so quick-witted.

“First, I need you to tell me what kind of topics you’re looking for in the broader Biology theme, so that we can easily select the right books you’ll need for your research.” Sugawara spoke as he opened the thick book to a page, likely where all the Biology titles started.

 _Biology… Research… I guess I could have done that online but… Okay, I can probably manage this._ Akaashi thought to himself, somehow easing down the lump in his throat.

“I’m looking for books about – uh…” Akaashi trailed off, his thoughts racing in his mind and he tried to look for something, anything, “…Molecular Biology?”

“Okay…” Sugawara murmured absentmindedly, flipping the pages until he found the one he was looking for and turned the book, offering it to Akaashi, “Now you can look for the titles you’re interested in, and then we’ll go look for them together.”

Akaashi gazed at the open book in front of him, quickly gluing his eyes to a random spot so that Sugawara would think he knew what he was looking for.

 _What the hell…_ Akaashi thought, trying not to frown. _I don’t know any of this… How come…??_

He pointed to an arbitrary title, “This one.”

Sugawara stood up from his seat and walked over to Akaashi’s side, leaning over his shoulder to look where the other was pointing his finger. Akaashi smelled fresh lavender and felt Sugawara’s soft breath brushing his cheek like a gentle breeze. He tried not to make dying cat noises as his heart pounded wildly in his ears.

Only, then – he heard Sugawara chuckle.

Akaashi froze.

“You’re looking at the wrong column… Molecular Biology is right here.” Sugawara spoke softly, reaching out a hand and touching the paper to a place just beside Akaashi’s hand.

If that was possible, Akaashi could feel the warmth emanating from Sugawara’s body permeating into his own. Or maybe Akaashi was overheating. He didn’t know for sure.

He gulped down and nodded, quickly searching through the titles and finally tapping the third one from the bottom of the column.

“This is the one I need.” Akaashi murmured.

“Good,” Sugawara replied, “Off we go to the fifth floor, then!”

He straightened up and took a step back, giving Akaashi the space he needed to collect his things.

It took Akaashi a second too long to react, and he jumped from his seat, quickly gathering his notes and papers and messily stuffing them into his bag along with his Biology book as he heard Sugawara’s muffled giggle behind him. Akaashi’s ears were burning in embarrassment.

He shrugged his bag onto his shoulder, and turned to face Sugawara, who nodded toward the elevator near the entrance. Akaashi inhaled deeply and followed him through the hall and into the glassed cage.

The doors closed, and Akaashi realized they were the only ones inside. Sweat trickled down his back.

“So you’re studying Biology…” Sugawara’s voice rose up beside him, at a much more normal tone now that they didn’t need to whisper for a while, “…can I ask what for?”

Akaashi played with a loose thread on the strap of his bag, “I’m a pre-med student,” And Sugawara hummed gently in reply. Akaashi felt a rush of adrenaline course through his veins as he opened his mouth to ask, “What about you?”

Sugawara chuckled again, “I’m studying Library science.”

 _Of course, God damn it._ Akaashi mentally slapped himself for not noticing the obvious.

The elevator stopped at the third floor, and four students made their way into the cage. Sugawara stepped closer to Akaashi to give them space, and pressed his hand to the wooden bar behind him. His fingers were now only a few inches apart from Akaashi’s.

Akaashi drew in a deep breath as the doors closed once more.

“Have you thought about what you want to specify in?” Sugawara asked then.

Akaashi cleared his throat and raised his voice so that Sugawara could hear him over the excited chatter of the other students beside them, “Sports medicine.”

“Oh! That’s interesting,” Sugawara replied, his eyebrows raising, “In that case – you play sports?”

Akaashi nodded, “Yeah, volleyball.”

Sugawara gasped, and his eyes widened in surprise. Akaashi tilted his head to the side, confused as to why Sugawara was reacting like that.

“I’m sorry…” Sugawara laughed, “I play volleyball too! But not for the college team, sadly.”

There was a soft ting, and the doors of the elevator opened up to the fifth floor. Akaashi and Sugawara stepped outside and walked left towards long shelves filled with ancient-looking books.

Walking beside Sugawara, Akaashi mustered the strength to open his mouth once more and whispered, “Y – you play volleyball?”

“Yes!” Sugawara murmured excitedly, looking at Akaashi with glimmering eyes.

“What position do you play?”

“I’m a setter.”

Akaashi froze in place, and Sugawara continued walking ahead until he realized the other wasn’t following him anymore. He looked back at Akaashi with a quirked eyebrow.

Stunned, Akaashi looked for his words before softly stammering out, “Are you – serious?”

“Yeah?” Sugawara replied with a crooked smile.

Akaashi jogged up to join him, “I’m – I’m a setter as well.”

Sugawara looked at him, wide-eyed, and whispered, “That’s amazing! Ohh, it would be interesting if we could play together one day, see how different or not our techniques are!”

Akaashi’s heart raced, and warmth bloomed inside his chest when he replied, “Yeah. That would be – amazing.”

Sugawara smiled and turned to walk between two shelves, eyeing the one on the right from top to bottom as he slowly made his way further into the aisle. Soon, he stopped moving his feet and drew a hand to gently stroke the cracked spines of the books, ghosting his fingers over the numbered tabs.

“Here it is!” He finally said, straightening up after carefully retrieving a book from the lower part of the shelf.

“Thanks.” Akaashi murmured, taking the delicate-looking book – _The Molecular Biology of Viruses by Colter J. S. (1967)_ – into his hands.

He gazed at it. _What… am I going to do with this…_

“Now, you can either search into it while at the library, and give it back to me when you go out, or you can register it and take it home with you.”

“I’ll – I’ll take it home with me.” Akaashi whispered in reply, trying not to think about the fact that he had chosen that option just to have a reason to come back to see Sugawara.

“Okay, so we have to go back at the reception desk, then.”

Akaashi nodded, and followed Sugawara, who led the way back once more.

Their ride in the elevator was punctuated by animated chatter about volleyball stories. Akaashi learned that Sugawara had been to nationals with his high school team, and that they’d gone against everyone’s expectations and won the entire tournament. Akaashi told Sugawara that, on his side, his team had been able to make it to nationals only once when he was in high school, but that, sadly, they hadn’t made it too far from there. They both realized that they’d crossed the border to nationals on the same year, but that they had never crossed paths.

“This is incredible!” Sugawara whispered while going behind the reception desk and taking note of Akaashi’s name and the number of the book on a small card meant to record the borrowings of non-online-catalogued books. “We were in the same stage, but we never saw each other!”

Sugawara offered the book back to him, and Akaashi took it while nodding.

He remembered what Sugawara had said when they’d first began talking about volleyball and decided to try out something –

Akaashi gulped down heavily and spoke up, “If you – If you want, you can join one of the team’s practices one day.”

“Oh! Yes, I’d love that!”

Akaashi’s stomach churned when he saw the enthusiastic expression on Sugawara’s face, and he tried to look Normal.

“So, um. Saturday evening, then?”

Sugawara looked up at the ceiling, eyes lightly crinkled as he thought about something, then he nodded and answered, “Yeah, Saturday’s fine for me. What’s your phone number, so that we can communicate easier?”

 _This is happening. This is really happening._ Akaashi thought, still marvelled at how the whole situation had turned from awful to amazing with just a few words.

They exchanged their numbers, and Akaashi promised to a smiling Sugawara that he would text him the place and time of the volleyball team’s practice.

He felt light and warm and _good_ as he pulled open the glass doors of the building and retrieved his phone from his back pocket. There was a message from Bokuto already waiting for him on his notifications.

 _From: Bokuto-san_  
To: Me  
hey hey heeeey! i know i left just a few minutes ago but im hella pumped and i want to know how it went :DDDDD

Akaashi felt a small smile pull up the corners of his lips as he typed his reply.

 _To: Bokuto-san_  
From: Me  
Bokuto-san, we need to talk. And… I think it’s good news.

**Author's Note:**

> check out my tumblr (kuroosthighz) for some ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)!!! content


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